Joseph Hoyt says he always intended to publish the photos he’d taken in the early 1970’s on his myriad trips to far-flung locales like India and Afghanistan. 30 years later, he finally got the chance. A selection of Hoyt’s photographs, created during the five years he spent living and traveling in Afghanistan, has been published in “Afghanistan: 1970-1975: Images From an Era of Peace.†The monograph accompanies an exhibition of 50 black-and-white images, which are on display at the main San Francisco Public Library through Jan. 18, 2009.
“Four Uzbek Sheepherders, Badakshan Province, 1971â€
Taken before the Soviet invasion in 1979, Hoyt’s images are remarkable snapshots of everyday life in regions like Kandahar, Kabul, Bamian and the Khyber Pass. They depict everything from ancient-looking merchants selling grains in a Feydzabad market to the now-destroyed Buddhas of Bamian.
Hoyt, who traveled extensively in his youth along what was known as the “hippie trail†discovered Afghanistan on the recommendation of a fellow traveler. He says his photographs reflect a period which is virtually unknown today and hopes his images of a “country at peace†encourage viewers to see Afghanistan as a nation deserving of support and rebuilding.
The Florida-based photographer is still making images and is involved in a number of organizations like Omeid International, The Afghan Friends Network, and Roots of Peace, which are actively helping to rebuild Afghanistan.
Here are some excerpts from an interview I recently conducted with Hoyt over e-mail.
Q: Did you set out to create a documentary series on Afghanistan when you began this project in the 1970’s? Did you ever intend to publish your photos? Or was as this a project begun solely for your own enjoyment?
A: As a young man I had indeed thought of being a photographer - whatever that might have meant. And I had intended to publish my photos. In fact, one of my trips to Afghanistan included a month-long stay in India. But the reality of needing to make a living set in and I went on to other things.
Q: Can you share any particularly moving, poignant, humorous or otherwise standout memories about any of these pictures?
A: I am a pretty gregarious person, so I’d say that nearly all my portraits involve a very personal exchange and important communication with the subject. The photograph of the two policemen taken on the street in Jalalabad involved some friendly banter and cajoling to first get the two guys to stop and talk and then to actually embrace as seen in the photo.
â€Two policemen encountered on the street in Jalalabad, 1971â€
I’d spend days just walking around Kabul, sometimes in the most remote corners of the city, or whatever town or village I happened to be in. Stopping to chat with people, beginning relationships, then bringing out the camera. The photograph I call Nineteen Boys was taken after many times passing by the shop where they would receive instruction in the Koran. The teacher was easy to engage and the boys really wanted to be photographed. The result is one of my favorites. The kids are just so natural and happy.
"Nineteen Boys, Kabul, 1973"
Q: Was there ever any hesitation in taking certain photographs or working with certain subjects? Conversely, was there something you were dying to capture?
A: Yes. Many times prospective subjects would wave me away, sometimes quite angrily. Also, it has been mentioned many times that I display few photographs of girls or women. This is true. Both would normally cover their faces or turn away. My need for communicating with my subjects made it impossible to push the shutter.
Q: Were you an avid photographer? Are you still? Have you created any similar bodies of work during any other travels?
A: I bought my first camera in 1964 - a small 35mm which I used just to take snapshots. I bought a Nikon in 1969 when I was working at a hospital in Boston. I took the camera with me to Europe and on to Asia. I have not done any formal collections of my work. I continue to practice the craft, however. My work has been shown in a local gallery and is being shown in the current Winter show at the Miami Center for Photographic Arts.
Q: I read that you began revisiting your photos of Afghanistan in 2004. What caused you to take another look at your work after three decades?
A: The situation in Afghanistan, and after 9/11, the constant demonizing of Afghans, and Muslims in general, in the press. I remember the Afghan people as being incredibly welcoming, kind and generous people (even when they could not afford to be generous). I had been so saddened by the events in Afghanistan after the communist coup in 1978 and the Soviet invasion in 1979. The Russians had been lurking about Afghanistan for years. The Afghan people did not like them. Then the ensuing civil war took such a horrible human toll as well as totally destroying the country’s infrastructure.
In the summer of 2004 I started the project.
"Chillum Seller, Kandahar, 1973"
Q: Why do you think it’s important that this work travels and reaches as many audiences as possible?
A: When I showed the collection at the Miami Dade Public Library in 2007, there was a guest book for comments. It was filled with comments from middle school students who were amazed to see young Afghans running about. There were no images of bombed-out buildings, no tanks, no guns. I believe these kids had an eye-opening experience.
I think the photos can foster an understanding of the Afghan culture they will not get in school or from the newspaper or TV. This is also true of adults of course.
During a discussion at the SFPL, it was suggested that showing the exhibition in Afghanistan might be a good thing as it would allow the young people there to see what he country was like back then.
After all, one or two generations has known nothing but war and turbulence.
“Afghanistan 1970-1975: Images From an Era of Peace†runs through Jan. 18, 2009 in the Skylight Gallery at the main San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, noon-6 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Free. 415-557-4277, http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/news/exhibitions.htm